Turn Out So Beautifully
by No Coward Soul
Summary: What passed between Perry and Ilse during their midnight ride and when Teddy was left at the altar.  Written for the 2009 Yuletide Challenge.


June 12

"Sit," Ilse told the Chou, who nudged her fist with his nose. "No, sit. Good dog." She opened her hand and let him have the treat inside.

Teddy, lounging on a sofa of his own, watched them sulkily. "You care more for it than you do for me."

" 'Course I do," picking the dog up and cuddling him.

"It never chased a cat in its life."

"Teddy, you shouldn't have given him to me if you were going to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous," he answered. "I don't believe you."

"You ought to."

"I won't," he said vehemently. That was the end of the evening's conversation. At eleven Teddy rose. "Have to leave now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night." He didn't kiss her, and she didn't watch him go. What an insufferable man he had grown into! She had never noticed it before, but now that they were so often alone she wondered how she could spend the rest of her life with him. She must have one last night of adventure before the wedding, she thought. Through the window she could see the lane standing open before her, full of possibilities. After grabbing a coat she went outside and decided to walk down to the dunes.

Partway there she heard a car driving up. Then it stopped, and Perry Miller said her name.

"Let me join you," she replied, and climbed into the front seat.

"Where were you going?"

To you, she thought. "Anywhere. I heard once that you never truly know a man til you're engaged to him. And now that I truly know Teddy, he turns out to be a dreadful bore. So I left."

"The last scandal of Ilse Burnley?" Perry suggested.

"Exactly." He drove so smoothly - so confidently. Fearless, carefree Perry. She really ought to try to stop hankering after him. What if she told him now how much she cared? Would he be surprised? Or did he suspect? Could it be that he cared, and was only holding back because of Teddy?

As she wondered this, Perry admired how she looked in the moonlight. People had often said she was beautiful; he had accepted it as a fact and never asked himself if it were true. They were right; she was like the sun to Emily's moon and stars, with her gold hair and amber eyes. He had learned something about Ilse recently and begun reconsidering her. The woman beside him was the doctor's neglected daughter, ashamed of her admiration for Stovepipe Town. The girl who had berated him for bragging and refused to speak to him after he committed a blunder. The friend who spent hours helping him practice his speech and defended him to Mr. Travers.

At one she said, "It's too late for an engaged woman to be out. Will you take me home?" When they arrived at the Burnley house she thanked him for the evening. "It was glorious. I won't forget it in a hundred years."

"Ilse," he said in a way that made her heart beat faster. "Let's - " He paused. "Stay friends."

"Of course we will. Good night."

"Good night." Too late, Miller, damn it, he thought as he watched her walk up to the door.

June 15

"You had a concussion," the nurse said when Perry woke up. "A car wreck. Do you remember?"

"Yes. I was driving to - to Blair Water."

"You aren't seriously injured. You can leave tomorrow, the doctor says."

Tomorrow. He would not be able to see Teddy and Ilse before they sailed. "What time is it?" he asked.

"A little past three."

"Perry Miller killed! Good God, how horrible!"

Ilse heard her father's words and dropped her orchid bouquet. She felt her heart stop in the few seconds before Aunt Ida said "unconscious." Her veil fell as she hurried to the window. She easily made her way out and slid down the roof, heedless of any damage done to her ivory velvet and lace. They were no longer needed. When she hit the ground she looked about for a moment til she spotted Ken Mitchell's runabout.

"Just let me see him," she prayed as she headed for Charlottetown.

He was sitting up in bed when he heard a bang on the door, then Ilse rushed into the room.

"You're not killed," she exclaimed, kissing his cheek, then his neck. "He doesn't need you, she said to the nurse. "Only me. I want to talk to him." The other woman left, making sure to close the door behind her.

Perry couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked radiant - the very picture of a happy bride. "Here, bring over that chair there. How was it?"

"Didn't happen. I've run away. Aunt Ida came and said you were dying. I had to come and see you. I didn't even think about it. You know I never do. And I'll never, never marry Teddy Kent or anyone else but you. Perry, I've loved you all these years. Ever since we were children at Blair Water School."

"Me? I never guessed." Emily had told him, but he would forever keep that a secret.

"I know, I yelled at you like a banshee. I wanted to be proud of you. You were always -"

"Making grammatical mistakes. Forgetting to stand when a lady entered the room."

"I knew you were better than that. I called you an oaf and a donkey so nobody would suspect how I felt. Even Emily was flabbergasted when I confessed a few years ago. Lord, how jealous I was when you were chasing after her."

"I didn't truly love Emily," he assured her. "I'm going to love you better."

A smiling Ilse was leaning in to kiss him when Dr. Burnley stormed in. She jumped up.

"What were you thinking?" he shouted. "How could you do that in front of the entire clan?" He swore several times. "Come on, Ilse. Miller's all right, so let's have our wedding."

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean that I can't come with you. I'm going to marry Perry, not Teddy."

"Marry Miller? When did this happen?"

"Ages ago. But each of us thought the other didn't care. Dad, I wouldn't have accepted Teddy if I hadn't given up hoping. You know I'm not that bad."

"Well," said Dr. Burnley, looking from his daughter to Perry, who met him with a serious and apologetic expression. "Well, if you're set on jilting Kent, I suppose there's nothing to do but go and tell everyone the wedding's off."

"Yes," said Ilse. "Oh - how did you get here?"

"In Rob's runabout."

"Will one of you take Ken's back to him? I would hate to inconvenience him."

"Inconvenience!" Dr. Burnley shook his head. "Don't you realize how inconvenient this is? They won't forget this for years."

"I'm sorry!" she cried as her father slammed the door behind him. "Don't worry, Perry. He'll get over it in a week or so."

"You've forgotten something, dear," said Perry slyly.

"What's that?"

"I never said I'd marry you. You've decided it without asking me."

"Goose!" She climbed on his bed and kissed him again, with all the passion of a woman who has finally achieved what she's desired for a decade. When she drew away he asked, "How's Ted going to be?"

"Oh, he'll be angry. Any man left at the altar will be angry. But he isn't dying over me. No, he'll find the right woman someday."

A memory Perry had not recalled in years came to him. "I mean to ask you when I grow up. And so will Ted."

"If he does I'll marry him," Emily had said.

"I think he will," he told Ilse.

"Good. Maybe he'll forgive me. Honestly, I don't care whether he does. Right now I don't care about anything but you." She spent all of the day with him, chatting and making plans for the future.

They had a quiet wedding in Montreal with just the legally required witnesses. Then followed Emily and Teddy's. "There," said Ilse gaily, "didn't I say that things turn out all right? It's so nice to know that all your troubles were worth it." Emily admitted she was right.


End file.
